Tag: 35mm vs 120 film

Leica vs Hasselblad (M6 vs 501C)(35mm vs 120)

(35mm vs 120 medium format film portraits)

Leica vs Hasselblad Shoot Out!

Leica vs Hasselblad: I did a shoot with Stacey recently in my home studio in Coventry UK. I decided to shoot my Leica M6 35mm film camera up against the medium format 6×6 Hasselblad 501C film camera. To give the Leica M6 rangefinder a fighting chance I loaded it with the super fine Ilford Pan F 50 film and attached the super sharp Leica Summicron 75mm f2 APO lens. I did do a few wider shots with the Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f1.2 ASPH ii lens which is also nice and sharp. The Hasselblad was already loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400 but for some reason I thought it had Fomapan 100 film is so shot the roll of Tri-X 400@100 and developed accordingly Both rolls of film were developed in Xtol developer. Click any photo for more details.

Here is a sample of the film scans:

Hasselblad 501C Portraits

(Hasselblad 501C + 120 Fomapan 100 Medium Format Film)

Leica M6 Portraits

(Leica M6 + 35mm Ilford Pan F 50 Film)

Leica M8 (Digital Leica)

I was also using my digital Leica M8 for the shoot and it still impresses me as to how film like the Leica CCD sensor appears. Here are a few examples.

Leica M8 Digital Camera

Digital comparison!

Leica vs Hasselblad – Results

I think the Leica M6 was at the top of it’s game and thanks to the choice of Ilford Pan F 50 film. I actually preferred the Leica M6 photos on the whole to that of the Hasselblad. That is quite an achievement as the Hasselblad has done nothing but impress me since my purchase. The real test will be using the Hasselblad 501C + Zeiss Makro-Planar 120mm f4 CF lens + 120 Ilford Pan F 50 film for sharp lens and super fine grain film. That said, it’s great to remind myself of how good the little 35mm Leica film cameras can be. I loved the film portraits from both cameras but I think the M6 won it.

Big thanks to Stacey for putting up with my usual array of quirky cameras pointing at her!